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Oakland Raiders CEO Amy Trask says team not for sale

By Jerry McDonaldOakland Tribune

Posted:
06/10/2011 02:22:56 PM PDT

Updated:
06/10/2011 09:49:48 PM PDT

Click photo to enlarge

Raiders owner Al Davis walks on the field before Super Bowl XXXVII between the Oakland Raiders and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Qualcom Stadium in San Diego, Calif. on Sunday January 26, 2003. (Contra Costa Times/Jose Carlos Fajardo)

Responding to an Orange County Register story that named the Raiders as one of five teams in the mix to be sold to billionaire Philip Anschutz and moved to a new stadium in Los Angeles, Raiders CEO Amy Trask said no sale.

"The team is not for sale. It will remain with the Davis family," Trask said in a statement issued through senior executive John Herrera.

In the Register story, Anschutz Entertainment Group president Tim Leiweke talked of Anschutz's wish to acquire majority ownership and bring a team to Farmers Field, a proposed downtown stadium.

"St. Louis, Jacksonville, not extensively, certainly Oakland, San Diego, Minnesota are still in the mix," Leiweke said. "We're not packing any (moving) vans right now."

The Raiders negotiated a three-year extension on their lease agreement in November 2009 to remain at the O.co Coliseum through 2013.

Trask has stated publicly the Raiders' wish is for a new stadium at its current site.

AEG's $1 billion plan for a 72,000-seat downtown stadium is one of two competing proposals that aim to bring the NFL back to Los Angeles 15 years after the Rams and Raiders left. Warehouse magnate Ed Roski has permits in place to build a 75,000-seat stadium in the City of Industry but has also not secured a team.

Meanwhile, Chargers owner Alex Spanos is no longer looking to sell at least part of his stake in the team. The Spanos family terminated a deal with Goldman Sachs Group Inc., in March to find a buyer for some or all of Alex Spanos' 36 percent stake in the team, Chargers spokesman Mark Fabiani said.

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Vikings spokesman Lester Bagley acknowledged the team had been approached by AEG and the Roski group but said the franchise had no immediate interest in a move. He said the Vikings hoped state legislators would approve funding to subsidize a new stadium in the Twin Cities when they convene a special session to hash out a budget resolution.

Messages left with the Rams and Jaguars weren't returned.

Eagles: Two Philadelphia high school seniors -- Monique Joseph and Rickey Savage -- each received $5,000 college scholarships from Michael Vick. The quarterback made the surprise announcement during a commencement speech to 450 graduates of the Camelot schools for at-risk youth.

Dolphins: Brandon Marshall's wife was arrested again after previously being charged with stabbing the wide receiver in the abdomen. Broward Sheriff's Office deputies responded to a 911 hang-up at the couple's home in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Despite a protection order requiring her to stay at least 500 feet from the home, Michi Nogami-Marshall told deputies she had been living there while Marshall was out of town. When Marshall returned, an argument occurred, followed by the 911 call.

Miscellaneous: Plaxico Burress wants another chance to play in the NFL. The former Giants wide receiver told The Wall Street Journal that spending nearly two years in prison on a gun charge took "an emotional toll." He was released Monday from Oneida Correctional Facility (N.Y.).

Cowboys: Former Dallas linebacker Godfrey Myles died from complications of a heart attack in Miami, according to the University of Florida. He was 42.